Toward the Acoustic Detection of Two-Phase Flow Patterns and Helmholtz Resonators in Englacial Drainage Systems

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Author: Podolskiy, Evgeny A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Geophysical Union
• Subjects: glacier; acoustics; crevasse; intermittent flow; bubble burst; Greenland; 450; Franz Josef Land; Baldwin; Bowdoin; greenlandic; Tidewater
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2115/78399; https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL086951

Passive acoustic monitoring has revolutionized the characterization of industrial processes and the acoustic wavefield in various environments. However, cryospheric acoustic phenomena remain largely unknown, especially at medium and small scales. Furthermore, the englacial drainage system is poorly documented, even though it is fundamental for understanding water routing through the glacier body. Here I present the first-of-its-kind in situ records of periodic or sustained acoustic signals generated by water drainage through crevasses at the calving front of a glacier, in this case a Greenlandic tidewater glacier. The generative mechanisms of gurgling and bubbling noise are explained as flow-induced sounds that are excited by intermittent air-water two-phase flow and Helmholtz resonance, respectively. This paper demonstrates that there is the tremendous potential to study near-surface glacier systems using acoustic methods and detect different flow patterns in englacial conduits from their acoustic signatures, both of which can significantly advance our understanding of glaciological processes. Plain Language Summary The glacier surface is full of various audible sounds. While early polar explorers have documented this noisy glacier environment, these qualitative observations have never been supported by measurements. For example, Nansen (1897), wrote, "I can hear reports from the glacier. whenever it turns cold-it writhes horribly, and crevice after crevice appears in the huge body; there is a noise like the discharge of guns, and the sky and the earth tremble so that I can feel the ground that I am lying on quake" while wintering in Franz Josef Land, and Baldwin (1896) described his crossing of Bowdoin Glacier, which is the subject of this study, as follows: ".shrieking sounds frightful enough, came.to our ears, seeming to vibrate through.our very bodies, spitefully shouting in our ears: Why, presumptuous man, hast thou set disturbing foot upon my chaste bosom?" Here I analyze the first acoustic records that ...